The Leinster Cross Country Championships took place in the Phoenix Park on Wednesday 7th Feb, with the best young runners in Leinster vying for provincial medals and national qualification.
In the day's first race, over one hundred minor girls took to the start line for a busy 1500m race. Katie Turner of Mount Anville ran a composed race, finishing within the top forty and gaining valuable experience in her first provincial cross-country final.
A strong junior cohort were next up. Despite being a team member down, Sophie Fleming, Aoife Fitzpatrick, Orlaith Dowling, Camilla Cross, Oriana Perez, Evelyn O’Rourke and Deirbhile Hassett were confident of a strong group performance. An outstanding run from the entire cohort saw the girls secure silver medals and their place in the All-Ireland final on March 9th. Sophie led the team home in 9th position, closely followed by Aoife in 11th, with both girls also gaining individual qualification spots. A team however is only as good as the sum of its parts and huge credit must go to all the girls behind who fought so hard for every place throughout the race.
The inter-girls team was next up, with Olivia Tobin, Sofya Corbett, Sadhbh Hassett, Abril Allende and Emilia Kinsella all running strong races despite the majority being in the middle of their mock examinations. With four of these girls underage again next year, they will be confident of improving on their seventh-place team finish.
Last up were the Senior girls, with all three members of the Mount Anville team making a welcome return to cross country this year. Meabh Bolger, Nessa Bolger and Sarah Byrne all ran determined races with their positive attitudes a credit. We look forward to seeing more of these girls on the track in the summer!
Congratulations to all on your great performances and best wishes to the junior girls in the All-Ireland final.